Just realized my hen house thermometer was way off after watching the birds act weird

I noticed my hens huddling together even though the thermometer in the coop said 30 degrees. Saw the same thing three days in a row. Finally said "this can't be right" and hung a second thermometer right next to the first one. The old one was reading 12 degrees warmer than the real temp. Has anyone else had a cheap thermometer go bad like that and freeze out their flock?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura21122d ago

Can I ask if the old thermometer was one of those glass tube ones or a digital model? I'm asking because I've had digital ones drift on me before, especially after they get knocked around in the coop. The glass ones usually either work or they're broken, but the cheap digitals can slowly lie to you for weeks.

blairwhite1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh geez, that's rough. I feel for you and your poor hens. It's amazing how those cheap thermometers can be so off and you just assume they're right. I had a similar thing happen with a hygrometer in my reptile tank, thought the humidity was fine and it was off by 20 percent. Your birds must have been so confused and uncomfortable, glad you caught it before it got really cold.

wesleyburns1mo ago

Ah man, that reptile tank humidity thing happened to me once with a bearded dragon. I had one of those cheap stick-on dial things and it was reading 50% but my digital gauge showed 15% when I finally checked. Poor little guy was shedding in patches for weeks and I thought it was normal. Your hens probably felt like they were in a weird climate zone too, not knowing if it was sweater weather or not. At least we caught it before something worse happened, I'm just glad animals are tougher than we give them credit for most of the time.